1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pump. In particular, the present invention relates to a pump which is preferably allowed to have a miniature and thin size.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a microminiature pump has been suggested, in which the viscosity of a liquid is thermally changed so that the change in viscosity is utilized in place of a valve.
The microminiature pump has no mechanical valve, and hence there is no fear of abrasion and malfunction. It is approved that such a microminiature pump can be applied to a device to be embedded in the body to administer a trace amount of medicament and to a small-sized chemical analyzer.
It is considered that such a microminiature pump will be extensively applied in the future, for example, to those concerning the medical and chemical analysis fields. In such application, it is of course important that the pump has a miniature and thin size. Further, it is desirable that the pump has a large discharge amount (movement amount) of fluid although it has the miniature and thin size.
Those made of silicon are known as such a microminiature pump. However, in the case of such a pump, the rigidity of the vibrating section is small, and it is difficult to realize a high speed pumping operation and an increase in discharge amount (movement amount) of fluid.
The present invention has been made taking such a problem into consideration, an object of which is to provide a pump which has a miniature and thin size and which makes it possible to increase the discharge amount (movement amount) of fluid.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pump which makes it possible to efficiently perform pressure reduction on the introducing side and pressure application on the discharge side.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.